Drill elements



May 12, 1959 w. COWLEY DRILL ELEMENTS 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Original ,Filed Feb. 6, 1956 INVENTOR. 774118482721? Cowley BY M 5 T JM 8 D y 12, 1959 w. E. COWLEY 2,886,081

DRILL ELEMENTS 2 She ets-Sheet 2 Wwmzww Original Filed Feb. 6, 1956 INVENTOR BY I s w bkk wfimm q' M 2,886,081 D RILL ELEMENTS William E. Cowley, Louisville, Ky., assignol: fqAmerican Saw and Tool Company,lLouisville, Ky! .aieor'pora- Qriginal application February 6, 1956, Serial No. 563,493,

now Patent No. 2,846,902, dated August 12,: 195861 Dir t s ap icat on Janua 9,1 9. aSeriaL H797? 3 Claims. to]. 145-125) This invention relates to drill elements such as screw pilots and the like. i r The primary objectof theinvention is to provide a screw pilot or like drill element which can be ysi-mply, economically and practieally formed tf rom flat sheet metal stock.

Previously such elements have been lformed by-machining or forging metal to the required shapewhich as compared with the hereinafter described method of application made such elements relatively expensive to rnanufa cture. However it is now proposed, by means of a limited number of 'simple punching, rolling and shearing r'iperations to produce drill elements in such mass quantities from "man available and inexpensive sheet metal stock asto considerably reduce the cost of such elements. The novel and iniproved methpdor process by which screw pilot and otherdrill elements ean be forrned from sheeti stock according to thein vention is claimed in rny copending application Serial No. 563,493, filed February 6, 1956, now Patent No. 2,846,902, of which this application is a division.

"Accordingly a principalobject of the invention as represented by .theipresent application is to provide ascrew pilot or drill element inlwhich thelshank and blade p01"- tions are stamped or cut from flat sheet metal stock as a' single and integral piece.

A further object of. the invention is to provide a screw pilot or drill element in which theblade tportion rnay be form d r m sh t Stock i m n e shsa ae e a ion- Another object or the invention is tq provide a screw pilot or ot her tdrill element the shank portion jco'mpri se s around, approximately cylindrieal hollow form whichllia'sbeen wor e from the, arne piece of sheet nietal stocko f win" if its blade portionis f ornred and so as to have its axisicoiiicidentlwiththat of the bledewhereby the element in y be preperly supported in the rotatabide; "rofa drill. a a

-s tilllanotheiobject of the invention is to p-rqvide a cr'ew pilot or drill'lerne nth g =a blade portiqn with l i e wan rcp dw Q1 l rla kw rela ed atth lls ifiats r as N 1s it l em eni t t Ma is-1 screw pilofiir armament having anintegrally related shank and blade portion in ,which the h la de portion has its eppe eja cutting edges approxnn'atelyiw foff perpendicula thesurfaces thereof; i i i Maiiy6ther eb eersjarwen as, advantages of the inventiofi will Edafiliafreiitfromdh description ,of thedeviee and process' o'f fdrmingthe same as hereinafter "fully explained. It is jurther to 1. be understood thattsaid description is notltp be taken in alimiting sen se but merely as illustrative of how the invention may be carried out "iiccordiiig tolthe teachings herein.

Now rcfer'ringto thedrawings:

Figure l'represents flat sheet metal stock on which, beginning at the left and proceeding to the ri gh t, gthe when? operations required in the process have been A a a a ;the shearing operation by which the drill portion is illustrated in a way toshowthe cumulative effect of said N steps in producing. the final product; i

p a Figure 2 is a sidelviewof the sheet illustrated in Figure 1 looking in the direction indicated by the arr'ows Figure 3 is a cross sectional view taken through the sheet in Figure 1 along lines 3r-3;

Figure 4 is a cross sectional View taken through the sheet along lines 4-4 in Figure 1;

Figure 5 is acrosssectionalyiew taken: through the sheet illustrated in- Figure 1 along 'lines 5+5;

Figure 6, is a crosssectional view taken along lines 6 6oithe, sheet illustratedin Figure 1;

,Figure 7 is a fragmentary view, somewhat exaggerated, to illustrate,the;..angulandisposition of thesheet in f r e Figure 8 is a side elevationahview of awdevice produced according toflthe invention;

"Figure 9 is a top plan View of the device;

Figure 10 isanend view of thedevice taken from the right hand sideuo'f Figure 9 andllookingvintthe direction indicated by arrows10-.10;

Figure 11 is a cross sectional view, of the device taken along lines 11-11in Figure 9;

Figure 12 is a cross sectional view of the device taken along lines 12-12 in Figure 9; x

a Figure 13 is across sectional viewof thedeviceltaken along lines 13 -13.in Figure 9;

Figure 14 is across sectionalaview of the device taken along lines 14 ,-14inFigure 9; and

Figure 15 is a cross sectionalmview of the device taken along lines 15-15311 Figure9.

Referring first to; Figures. 8 through 15 itwill be seen that a screwpilot according to the present invention comprises, a three step blade portion indicated generally at 21 having substantially flat'opposed surfaces 22 and23, a supporting "shank 25 and. an intermediate section 24 by which said blade 21 is ,joined to its supporting shank. Said supporting shank- 25 .has a generally round cylindrical hollowjshapeaand is sizedito fit: in a standard drill chuck withits axis disposedialong line: A-A- and substantially coinciding with the axiswof the said cutting portion 21. x a

,As seenbest in"Figure"9, bladeQZl terminates in an elongated drill poitiong26i having substantially parallel opposed sides 27 anda tapered end 28. Saidportion'26 is dimensioned so aswtoforrn. a pilot opening for the wood screw somewhat smaller,:than the diameter of the threaded portion .of the-screwlotbe secured therein. Intermediate stepjportion 29 ofa saidabladei2lwhich is somewhat wider also has opposedapproximately parallel edges 30 and tserves to enlargethe upper part of the drilled opening to receive "the shank or unthreaded portion, of vthe screw. The thirdlstep ofi said: blade 21 embodies .a countersink forming portion 31 having opposed inwardly converging edges 32 which form the countersink orrecess atjtheutopi of the drilled opening to receive the head of tthewscrew. As shown most clearly inFigures 1,1 l nd 14,"the opposededges of each of said portions,26 and {29 have their respective side edges 27 and 30 in parallel relation with each other but lying in planesa atwhich are preferablysangled at approximately 9 frorn a'norrnal (b,b) to their flatsurfaces22 and 23. In like mannersthe opposedconverging side edges 32 of 21, areaalsol seen tolie inplanes (tia) which are gledflat thelsarneqapproximately 9 from a normal (b-fl l tohtheirfiatisurfacesflzzrand 23. This provides its cutting edges with a; correct clearanceaangletfor-wood gutting. It iscontemplatedlthat such inclination ofrthe cutting edgesof thebladeIZl of the screw pilot may be performed, according to the present invention, in the shearing operation as thereinafter described without further working or twisting of said portion 21 from an initial fiat shape as might otherwise be necessary. It is to be understood that the cutting edges of said drill blade 21 can be inclined at any other angle if desired or thought necessary. Since the intermediate portion 24 has no cutting function, it is not necessary to provide the edge of this portion 24 with such clearance angles and are therefore not so shown in Figure 15. Obviously, however, there would be no reason to avoid shearing its edges at such an angle if it were more convenient to do so but as pointed out above, the shape of said edges is not critical.

Now referring to Figure 1 it will be seen that such a device can be readily and conveniently formed from sheet stock by subjecting such stock to a limited number of simple, uncomplicated piercing, slitting, punching, rolling and shearing operations, These operations furthermore can be performed in a single punch-press using a multiple die or each of the steps may be performed singly in separate presses or dies, or in any combination thereof. The cumulative efiect of these steps is illustrated in Figure 1. Beginning at the left hand side of this figure, it will be understood that the sheet of metal stock 36 is initially punched to provide it with two spaced lines of spaced holes 37 and 38. These function primarily as means for properly locating the sheet stock between the dies in the press or presses for each of the succeeding operations.

In order to form the shanks of the screw pilots from said sheet stock a succession of spaced slots 39 and 40 are next punched in the material in alignment with holes 38 and 37. Said slots 39 and 40 are then interconnected by slits 41. The intervening areas between the slits 41 define the portions of the sheet stock subsequently Worked into the cylindrical shanks 25. This is accomplished by striking said areas between the slits with a suitable shaped member to form depressions 42 which extend laterally of the sheet between slots 39 and 40. The effect of this is, as seen in Figure 2, to displace a longitudinal section thereof below the plane of the sheet and which brings the sides 43 thereof upwardly in a substantially vertical direction (Figures 2 and 5). This striking operation serves first to permit the shank to be rounded in a succeeding operation into a desired substantially cylindrical shape which will have its axis located intermediate the opposed fiat surfaces of the yet unworked portion of the metal sheet and it also obviously provides a convenient means of properly locating a mandrel over which said sides 43 can be rolled to obtain said required cylindrical shape. Preferably, the shank 25 thus formed is restruck to close the gap 44 between the sides 43 and firmly bring their adjacent edges together. This completes the steps of forming the shank 25.

Preparatory to shearing the blades, it has been found advantageous to connect holes 37 and 38 by slots 45 so as to permit a more positive locking of the sheet 36 betwen the dies 46 and 47 in said shearing operation. As illustrated in Figure 7, dies 46 and 47 have parallel faces 49 and 50 between which the sheet 36 is fed and which faces 49 and 50 are angled 9 off the horizontal indicated by line HH. Preferably, die 47 is held stationary while member 46 reciprocates in a vertical direction to permit the sheet stock 36 to be intermittently fed therebetween and allow its portion 51 to be located in slot 45 to hold said sheet stock 36 in place during the vertical descent of punch or shearing member 52 to punch out portion 48. It will be clear from Figure 11, that the action of member 52 thus serves to simultaneously shape one side of each of two adjacent blade portions 21. The angle of the path along which punch 52 moves relative to the sheet stock at the same time provides the correct clearance angles for wood cutting. In this case 9. The completed screw pilot 21 may be then severed from scrap portion 54 along dotted line 53 by a separate punch not shown and blown off the die 46, separating the finished products from the scrap. I

It will be noted that, in,v the process, the cutting portion 21 of the screw pilot so formed retains the initial flat shape of the sheet stock but that its opposed cutting edges have been sheared at a required angle for cutting. Also, it will be noted that the shank portion 25 of said pilots although rounded into a substantially cylindrical shape are integrally joined with blade 21 through deflected or angled portion 24 and have their axis in substantial coincidence with the axis of the cutting portion 21 whereby the finished pilot may be properly supported in the arbor of a conventional drill tool.

An obvious advantage of the process is that the various= steps in forming the screw pilots may be carried on in: sequence on the same sheet of stock while the several. elements, in their various stages of completion, may beheld together by said connecting strips of scrap 54 until' the pilots have been completely formed and severed there from along line 53 as indicated previously and that the: process as described is adapted for economical and practical mass production of a variety of drill elements other than screw pilots by the proper selection of a cutting face for punch 52.

Thus it will be apparent that all of the objects and advantages of the invention can be obtained in a convenient, simple and practical manner.

Having described my invention, I claim:

1. A drill element comprised of a single elongated piece of sheet metal, one end portion thereof constituting a blade having essentially parallel fiat opposite surfaces and opposite side cutting edges which are in planes disposed at an angle other than perpendicular to said fiat essentially parallel opposite surfaces, the other end portion of said elongated piece of sheet metal constituting an open-ended hollow cylindrical shank to fit within a drill chuck, said shank-constituting end portion having essentially coaxial surfaces and with its opposed side edges essentially meeting along their length, the cylindrical shape of said shank-constituting end portion having an axis disposed midway between and essentially parallel to the planes in which said essentially parallel flat surfaces of the blade-constituting end portion lie, said axis constituting an extension of the axis of said blade-constituting end portion, and said blade-constituting and shank-constituting end portions of the elongated piece of sheet metal being integral with an angled intermediate section of said elongated piece of sheet metal having a generally convexo-concaved transverse shape by which the flat opposite surfaces of the blade-constituting end portion merge with the cylindrically shaped opposite surfaces of the shank-constituting end portion.

2. A drill element as claimed in claim 1 wherein the blade-constituting end portion includes a first, second and terminating part, the first part having its opposite side cutting edges convergingly related and substantially merging with the opposite side cutting edges of the second part which are disposed substantially straight and to parallel the axis of said blade-constituting end portion and the terminating part being narrower and having substantially straight opposite side edges also substantially paralleling said axis.

3. A drill element as claimed in claim 2 wherein the opposite cutting edges of each of said parts of the bladeconstituting end portion lie in planes which are approximately 9 otf perpendicular to the opposite flat surfaces of said blade-constituting end portion.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 222,101 Temple Nov. 25, 1879 2,116,890 Hamel May 10, 1938 2,294,096 Rice Aug. 25, 1942 2,655,964 Labbee Oct. 20, 1953 2,750,817 Eder June 19, 1956 

